A few small changes can make a world of difference. Knowledge given at the beginning of ones can career can turn a hopeless loser into a shinobi of strength and skill. Differences in a history that have long since passed can create a totally different outcome from what we might expect. This is the story of Naruto Uzumaki. This is the tail of these small shifts in life.

Ok so I'm going to be square with you all. This story is at least half of the reason that I have not updated my other stories much. I found this one invading my head one day and it refused to let me think up anything for my other stories. And so I decided to start writing, and I wrote, and I wrote and then guess what… that's right, I wrote some more. I have like thirty something chapters of this already written and just did not stop and put them out because I was afraid that if I stopped writing I would forget what I had for the story. The only thing that is left to do is get these chapters beta'd, either by myself reading each chap several times or finding someone willing to work fast (and by fast I mean the day after I mail it to them). In any case, you should get a chapter every other day until I run out.

Now the basis for this story is simple. What if Sarutobi gave Naruto the key to success after Mizuki's betrayel. That's right people, I am talking about the secrets behind the kage bushin no jutsu. It has honestly ticked me off that someone like Kakashi was the one to unveil this method of training, when Sarutobi Hiruzen the Sandaime Hokage, The Kami No Shinobi, the MOTHERFUCKING professor did not tell Naruto about this jutsu.

Honestly the way and time that Kishimoto brought this method of training to the fore was so late in the series that the only reason I can think of why he made it at all was because he realized that Naruto was still too weak and too stupid to actually stand even a remote chance of fighting against the likes of Akatsuki and Sasuke. So what did he do? He decided to make it so that kage bushin's could be tools of learning.

Anyways that is enough of my rant, no one came to here me bitch and so LETS GET ON WITH THE SHOW!

Dsiclaimer: This is just a reminder to anyone who has not realized it yet, I do not own Naruto. I mean really, if I did, do you think I would be writing this and posting it on ? Where I DON'T get paid for it? I think not.

Naruto: Shifts in Life.

Chapter 1: A Change of pace

It was early morning in Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves. The sun was just starting to rise, painting the sky in oranges and yellows. People began to slowly wake up and start their day, merchants getting there shops ready, parents making breakfast for their children, and children getting ready to go to school. Like always it was a normal day.

As the sun shone into his apartment, one Uzumaki Naruto groaned, turning over so the light wouldn't hit his eyes and he could remain asleep and dream of Sakura feeding him ramen as he was named Hokage.

Unfortunately it was not to be as the alarm clock Naruto had set began blaring loudly.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"GAH!" Naruto shouted as he fell out of bed. Blinking he looked around as his vision began to clear. He stood up and shut off his alarm, yawning loudly as he stretched. He looked back at the alarm clock, it was fairly old and worn from use, Naruto had found it in a trashcan and fixed it up.

However he had never actually used it before. For a moment Naruto tried to remember why he had set the alarm clock in the first place. He scratched his belly for a moment in thought before his eyes caught sight of his calendar, more specifically the date with the large red circle.

"That's right, it's the final exam before I become a ninja!" Naruto shouted in a frantic voice as is eyes widened.

He rushed into the bathroom, turning on the water of his shower as he took off his pajamas and stepped into the shower. the water was cold, freezing cold in fact, but Naruto had long since learned to ignore it. The owner of the complex was a rather cranky old lady who, like most of the villagers, meaning around ninety eight percent of the population, hated his guts. She had long ago turned off all the hot water that went to his apartment, forcing him to take cold showers.

Finished washing Naruto turned off the water, grabbed a towel and dried himself off. Moving back into his room, Naruto moved over to the closet. Opening it up revealed his entire collection of clothes, all of them were a bright orange track suit that he had managed to get, he had actually not even bought these, they had been too expensive since he had been charged triple the price for what most people would pay for normal clothing. Naruto had actually been forced to wait until the store owner had finally gotten rid of them, which was what the man had been going to do anyway when Naruto wanted to buy them, and then snatched them from the trash can. He grabbed one of them and went over to the dresser, opening a drawer and grabbing some underwear. He soon put his clothes on and made his way to the kitchen.

Opening his cupboard the blond grabbed one of his cups of ramen, opening it up and pouring some water in it. He moved over to his microwave and opened it up, placing the ramen in it and setting the timer for three minutes. Like all the appliance he had, the microwave was beaten and battered, having been found and fixed up by Naruto after someone had thrown it out.

As soon as the beep sounded Naruto opened the microwave grabbed the ramen and a pair of chopsticks and made his way out of the apartment. Not bothering to lock the door on his way out, after all, no one ever bothered coming here anyway.

Naruto opened the door to the room where he had spent the last six years in training to be a ninja. He looked around for a seat and was disgruntled when the only open one he could find was the one next to Uchiha Sasuke, brooder extraordinaire and his ultimate rival.

Naruto had never understood the brooding emo king. Everyone loved Sasuke, the girls in his class, the teachers in his class, the civilians and other shinobi in the village, everyone. The boy was handed everything on a silver platter, Konoha's golden boy. But for some reason Sasuke remained a cold and aloof bastard. It irked Naruto, who would do anything for the kind of love and attention the raven haired kid had.

Not being able to find anywhere else to sit Naruto moved over to sit next to the last Uchiha.

"Teme." Naruto said by way of greeting.

"Hn."

Naruto merely rolled his eyes at the response he received, having grown used to that kind of response. Hell, that was the only response Sasuke gave anyone, even the teachers had trouble getting more out of him. The only one quieter then Sasuke was Aburame Shino, a member of the famed Aburame Clan, and Naruto was convinced that kid was mute.

"I hope your ready to bask in my awesomeness as I kick ass today teme!" Naruto said, seeing if he could get some kind of reaction out of the boy.

"Hn."

Naruto grit his teeth in frustration. He was just about to start yelling when Haruno Sakura walked through the door.

Sakura was a girl with bubble gum pink hair, and wore a red Chinese style dress with a white circle in the middle, black mid thigh length skin tight shorts and blue shinobi sandals. Like the other girls in his class, she was a complete Sasuke fan girl. However to Naruto she was one of the most beautiful people he had ever met and was the girl he had been crushing on for nearly his entire time at the academy with no success.

Not that something as insignificant as six years of no success would stop him.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically as he waved at the girl. "Hey, hey about after school you and I-"

"Shut up Naruto Baka!" Sakura shouted as she smashed a fist into Naruto's face, sending the boy sprawling back onto his seat. "I don't want to hear your annoying voice today! And move so I can sit next to Sasuke-kun!" With nothing left to say on her part Sakura grabbed Naruto by the jacket and bodily threw him off the seat.

"So Sasuke-kun, I was thinking maybe after school we could go on a date together?" Sakura asked in a hopeful voice as she twirled her hair in her fingers and gave Sasuke a shy look.

Sasuke didn't even spare her a look as he continued to stare out of the window. "Hn."

Naruto winced a bit as he stood up, sighing he took the seat on Sasuke's left. He had grown used to this over the years. He had lost count of the number of times that Sakura had rejected him for a date, as well as the number of times she had hit him for asking. Sometimes after her particularly more harsh rejections, he would often wonder why he even bothered.

Of course those bouts of depression never seemed to last more then three seconds or so.

After awhile Iruka, the Chunin academy instructor for the academy, came in with Mizuki, his assistant, following close behind him.

"Alright class, it's time for the test to see who among you are ready to receive their head band and become ninja of Konoha," Iruka said.

Naruto grinned. I can do this. He thought with confidence. Naruto had been up late last night training. He was positive that he could complete any test set before him.

"Now when I call your name I want you to come into the next room and perform the Bunshin No Jutsu (Transform)." Iruka continued, looking down at his roster as he began to call the names of the genin hopefuls.

With those words Naruto began to feel despair. Out of all the things he could have asked us to do, why that one? The Bunshin had always been Naruto's worst jutsu. For some reason, no matter how hard he worked at it, he just could not get it down.

Naruto watched as the other kids came out, their head bands proudly displayed on their heads. It was nearly enough to make him loose confidence. However the blond quickly shored up his determination. He was not going to fail again! He was Uzumaki Naruto damn it!

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka called out.

Naruto grinned, masking his nervousness behind a confident smile as he walked into the other room. Iruka took a seat behind his desk next to Mizuki.

"Alright Naruto, show us what you can do," Iruka said. He was not quite sure what to think about the blond boy. He had only recently (Yesterday) started to try and understand Naruto, after having had a talk with the Hokage after Naruto had done a prank of painting the Hokage Monument. The kid in some ways reminded Iruka of himself when he had been an academy student, the pranks, the constantly being loud in order to get attention.

In the end he just decided to silently wish the boy luck.

Naruto went through the hand seals required for the jutsu as he began to channel his chakra. "Bunshin No Jutus!" he shouted. A large puff of smoke was created and when it cleared everyone's attention was on the clone next to Naruto. The completely dead looking clone that was laying on the ground and twitching spastically.

Several tic marks appeared on Iruka's head as he looked at the clone. "You fail!"

Naruto's eyes widened. He couldn't understand it. He failed? But he had tried so hard, and he really wanted to pass this time.

"Come on Iruka, I think we can make an exception this time," Mizuke said, surprising Iruka and Naruto. "While he did not manage to create a clone he did try really hard."

Iruka sighed, "I can't do that. Every one else in the class was able to create at least three clones. And Naruto only managed to create one, and look at it, it's pathetic." The chunin instructor looked at Naruto, "I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't pass you."

Naruto felt his world shatter with those words, he dejectedly walked out of the room and took his seat.

As the class ended and the kids ran up to their parents, showing off their new head bands. Listening with joy as their parents heaped praises on them.

One person however, was not partaking in the joyous atmosphere.

Naruto sat over on a small swing set, staring at all of the students and their parents with a look of longing. Having never known his parents the blond had often wondered about them. The people at the orphanage had told him they had left, not wanting to be with a monster like him. The old man had told him that his parents had died during the Kyuubi attack and no one knew who they were.

Seeing all these kids with their parents hurt, he would never show it and would deny it if anyone mentioned it, but he could not deny to himself how much it hurt.

"I'm so glad that boy didn't end up graduating."

Naruto turned his head slightly as he heard the voice. He had always been blessed with enhanced senses, his hearing, vision and smell were far more formidable then most people.

Some times that was more of a curse then a blessing.

"Yeah I know, could you imagine what would happen if he became a ninja. I mean he's-"

"Shh! You know we're not allowed to talk about that."

Naruto frowned as he turned his attention away from the discussion taking place. He had heard many talks of a similar nature with other people when ever they spoke of him and thought he couldn't hear. They would always stop however, as if they had been about to say something taboo. He wished he knew what they were going to say. Maybe then he would understand why he was so hated.

"Hey Naruto."

Naruto turned around to see Mizuki looking at him, "come with me, I wanted to talk to you."

"You know, Iruka didn't fail you to mean," Mizuke said as he and Naruto sat on the roof of the academy. "He's just worried that your not going to be ready to face the responsibilities of being a ninja."

An evil of glint came to Mizuki's eyes but Naruto did not see it. "Then I guess I have to tell you."

Naruto grinned as he entered the Hokage's office, having sneaked past all of the guards downstairs. It had been notoriously easy for him to do so. In fact a part of Naruto was surprised by how easy it was, but he just chalked it up to his amazing skills.

"Now let's see, where is that scroll," Naruto muttered as he looked around. Naruto had been in this office many times in the past, often coming in after a prank or sometimes just to visit the old Hokage.

The office was fairly standard, it had a wooden oak desk in front of him that had a window overlooking Konoha behind it. On the left was a couch and behind that were the pictures of the four Hokage's. on the other side was a book shelf filled with books and scrolls.

Walking over to the shelf Naruto looked at the scrolls, when he didn't see what he wanted he frowned. He was about to turn around when his eyes caught sight of the stand right next to the shelf. Because Naruto had only given the room a cursory glance every time he was in here he had never noticed it. The stand was really just that, a stand made of wood that had a large scroll on it.

"This has got to be it," Naruto said as he grabbed the scroll. He tied the ends with some ninja wire before strapping it to his back.

He was just about to leave when the door opened up and Sarutobi walked in.

"Naruto," the old Hokage blinked as he looked at the blond, "what are you doing here?"

"Uh… I… well… hehe you see…" Naruto racked his brain to find a way out of this. In his desperation he realized there was only one chance. Naruto quickly made a hand sign and called out the only original jutsu he had.

"Oiroke No Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu)!"

Naruto snickered to himself as he entered the forest. "Hah! I showed ojisan who's boss! With how easy it was for me to knock the old man out, he might as well just make me Hokage!"

Taking the scroll off his back Naruto sat down and unrolled it. He looked at the first Jutsu and groaned, "Kage Bunshin! Not another Bunshin jutsu." The blond sighed, "oh well might as well get to work."

Deciding that it might actually be a good idea to read up on the jutsu in order to help him, Naruto looked over the description of the jutsu first.

Kage Bunshin No Jutsu- a B rank Kinjutsu (Forbbiden Jutsu) that can only be used by ninja with higher then normal chakra reserves. This jutsu takes the users chakra and divides it equally in order to create solid copies of the original. The more chakra the user has, the more clones they can create. Be warned this jutsu also gives memory feedback every time a clone is dispelled and has been known to kill people who overused it due to this particular trait.

Naruto gulped a bit at the knowledge that this had killed someone, though a part of him wondered what it meant by memory feedback. He shook his head, it doesn't matter if this killed someone! I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to master this!

Determination renewed Naruto stood up and began getting to work. With a jutsu this powerful he would be Hokage in no time!

Less then an hour later Naruto found himself staring at ten more copies of himself, the jutsu had been surprisingly easy. Blinking a few times he reached out with a finger and poked one of them.

"Stop, that tickles," his clone said as he swatted the hand away.

Naruto blinked again before a large grin spread across his face. "YATTA! I DID IT!" Naruto shouted as he pumped a fist in the air.

"YATTA!" all of his clones shouted, emulating his actions.

Naruto dispelled the clones since he didn't need them. However, when he did Naruto found himself getting the images of himself and his clones from ten other perspectives.

"What the hell? Was that what the scroll was talking about when it said memory whatever?" Naruto asked himself. He shrugged, in the end all that mattered to him was that he had mastered the jutsu.

He was just about to go over some more jutsu from the scroll when a familiar voice yelled at him.

"There you are!"

Naruto looked up and saw Iruka stomping up to him. The blond grinned as he jumped up and pointed a finger at him, "Hah! Found you Iruka-sensei!"

"Baka!" Iruka shouted as he stopped in front of his blond student. "I found you!"

"Hehe I guess you did sensei," Naruto replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You were pretty fast! I only had time to learn one jutsu!"

Iruka started as he looked around at the ruined clearing. He has been training hard, I can tell.

Naruto jumped on the balls of his feet as he spoke to his sensei in a excited manner. "Hey but listen Iruka, now that you're here I can show you this totally awesome jutsu and you can let me graduate! That's how it all works out right?"

Iruka who was just about to go back to scolding Naruto blinked. "What? Graduate?"

Naruto nodded, "yeah that's how it works right? I learn a jutsu from this scroll and you let me graduate."

Iruka looked at Naruto cautiously, while he did certainly look like he had been training, Iruka had no idea where Naruto had gotten this idea for graduating this way. "Naruto who told you, you can graduate this way?" Iruka asked.

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Mizuki-sensei did. He told me where to find this scroll and about this place…"

Iruka's eyes widened as he realized what was going on. He was just about to say something when he heard a whizzing sound and shoved Naruto away. "Get down!"

Several kunai came out of the trees and impaled Iruka in the leg and arms. The chunin instructor looked up and scowled, "I see so that's how it is."

"Wow you got here pretty fast!"

Naruto who had been staring at Iruka in shock, looked up to see Mizuki with a large grin on his face. "Mizuki-sensei, what's going on here? Why are you attacking Iruka-sensei?" Naruto mumbled.

Hearing his voice, the two Chunin turned their attention to Naruto.

"Give me the scroll Naruto," Mizuki commanded, holding out his hand.

"No Naruto don't give it to him!" Iruka shouted.

"W-what's going on?" Naruto asked, unsure what he should do.

"Mizuki used you to get the scroll!" Iruka said, "That scroll contains Konoha's secret and forbidden Jutsu. He lied to you so you would do his bidding!"

"Oh I'll tell you who's lying Naruto," Mizuki said with a smirk.

Iruka looked over at Mizuki and saw the smirk on his face, it was then he realized what the white haired traitor was going to say and his eyes widened. "No Mizuki don't say it, you know it's forbidden!"

Naruto looked back and forth between his two sensei's in confusion. "what do you mean? who's lying?"

"They've been lying to you your whole life, ever since the degree of twelve years ago," Mizuki looked at Naruto with an insane grin.

"Twelve years ago?" Naruto shook his head, "I don't understand."

"No! Mizuki don't!"

"Haven't you ever wondered why were you hated?" Misuki questioned, making the blonds eyes widen. "Why you were ignored? Why people treated you like you were worthless! Like less then dirt!""Mizuki stop it now!" Iruka shouted to no avail.

"I'll tell you why Naruto," Mizuki sneered, "you see what they don't want you to know, was that the Yondaime did not actually kill the Kyuubi. Instead he sealed it away inside of a new born baby…"

Naruto began to tremble, while he never paid attention and didn't like to study he had never been dumb. Stupid? Maybe a little. But living on his own since he was five had forced him to develop a little faster then most. No he was not the brightest person, but he did have a decent amount of common sense and a keen ability to read others, something that had helped him immensely in the past when he had run into several drunken villagers.

He knew that Mizuki was telling him this for a reason, that the child who the Kyuubi was sealed into and he were in some way tied.

Mizuki confirmed his theory a few seconds later, "you are the child he sealed the Kyuubi into! You are the nine tailed fox!"

Naruto slumped to his knees. Everything made sense to him now. The glares, the hatred, the people muttering behind his back, telling their children to stay away from him. A part of him was actually angry that he had not realized this. His birthday was the day of the Kyuubi's defeat, people hated him with a passion, the one time he went out during the Kyuubi festival because he wanted to celebrate his birthday he had been beaten by a group of drunken villagers.

All of it made sense.

So I'm a demon then…?

Naruto was so caught up in his turmoil that he did not even see the giant Fuuma Shuriken heading his way.

A second later Naruto found himself staring into Iruka's tear streaked face, he looked over to see a giant shuriken sticking out of his sensei's back.

"Why?" Naruto asked, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Because we're the same," Iruka said with guilt lacing his words. "I was just like you, back when I was in the academy I was so lonely, so I played the fool. I know what it's like to feel that kind of pain, it hurts doesn't it? I'm so sorry Naruto, I should have done more to help you."

"Hahahaha!" Mizuki laughed behind them, "that's a good one Iruka! But we both know you hate him more then anyone! After all, it was the demon who took your parents away!"

Naruto's eyes widened when he heard that. Naruto did the only thing he could do given what he was being told, he grabbed the scroll and ran.

"Naruto!" Iruka's voice sounded after him.

Naruto continued jumping through the trees as fast as he could to get away from the two chunin.

"Naruto!"

Turning around the blond saw Iruka coming towards him. "Naruto! Mizuki was lying! He was just saying that stuff to confuse you!" The chunin academy teacher held out his hand. "Give me the scroll so we can keep Mizuki from getting it!"

However, Naruto merely spun around and launched himself back at Iruka, smashing his head into the chunin's gut.

The two tumbled down the trees and onto the ground.

"How?" Iruka questioned as he held onto his stomach, "how did you know," there was a puff of smoke. "That I wasn't Iruka?" asked the Mizuki.

Naruto smirked, "because." There was a puff of smoke, when it cleared it revealed Iruka. "I'm Iruka."

Mizuki scowled, "why are you protecting that demon anyways? You know what he'll do now that he has his hands on the scroll. Naruto is just like me. He'll use the power that's inside the scroll to destroy Konoha! That's what demons are like."

"Your right," said Iruka, surprising Mizuki. "That is what a demon would do…"

Naruto who had taken to hiding behind a tree as he listened in, froze at those words. I see… he thought sadly. So Iruka only see's me as a demon too…

"But that's not what Naruto would do," Iruka's words caused Naruto and Mizuki to snapped there attention back to him. "Naruto is not the demon. He's my student and a proud ninja of Konoha! Sure he made not always get things right and he's a little… well he's really clumsy and doesn't act all that smart. But he's nothing like you! Naruto is a one in a million kind of person and I believe in him!"

Naruto went from depressed to elated, Iruka believed in him. For as long as he could remember only the old man and a nice father/daughter couple at Ichiraku Ramen believed in him. Having another person who believed he could succeed was an elating feeling.

"You know Iruka I was going to save you for later, but I've changed my mind." Mizuki sneered as he began spinning his shuriken on his arm as he got ready to launch it. "Die!"

Just as Mizuki got ready to throw his Fuuma shuriken at the Iruka a blond and orange streak crashed into him, launching a foot into his face. The Chunin traitor scowled as he landed several feet back, glaring at the person who had hit him.

"Hah! I'd like to see you try demon!" Mizuki shouted with an insane grin.

Naruto put his hands in a ram seal and began amassing his chakra for another jutsu that he had seen in the scroll. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

Both Iruka and Mizuki gaped as hundreds if not thousands of Naruto's appeared within the forest. They were every where, a literal see of orange that almost blocked out all of the green of the forest.

"What's wrong Mizuki-teme? I thought you were going to kick my ass!" one of the clones shouted.

Another cracked his knuckles, "well if your not coming to us, I guess we'll just go to you!"

The clones all jumped up and headed towards the terrified traitor.

Naruto grinned as he looked down at the mass of black and blue flesh that had at one point been Mizuki.

"Hehe, maybe I went a little too hard on him," the blond said with a sheepish grin.

Unbelievable, Iruka thought in awe. To be able to have learned such a powerful jutsu in less then an hour… and the number of clones. He said that he wanted to be surpass the Hokage's and I'm beginning to believe he just might do it.

"Close your eyes for a moment," Iruka said. Naruto did so and as he did felt a weight being removed from his head before a new one took it's place. "Ok, you can open them now."

Naruto did so and his hand went to his head, feeling the cold metal and notched grooves of a Konoha head band. Iruka had his goggles in his hand.

"Congratulations! You graduate!" Iruka said with pride. "And to celebrate, we're going out for ramen tonight!"

Naruto smiled and was hard pressed not to cry. He decided to hide his tears by jumping on Iruka in a hug. "Iruka-sensei!"

"Owowow, Naruto that hurts!" Iruka said, though he was pleased to see the boy so excited.

"Thank you Iruka-kun, you may leave for now," Sarutobi said as Iruka escorted Naruto to his office. It was late and Iruka and Naruto had just gone out for some ramen after a clone had given Sarutobi the forbidden scroll. However he had wanted to talk to Naruto and make sure he was alright.

"Um… sure Hokage-Sama," Iruka said, "I'll see you in a week Naruto."

As Iruka closed the door behind him, Sarutobi turned to look at Naruto.

"Naruto…" Sarutobi started, only to stop as Naruto launched himself at him, grabbing onto the old Hokage as he cried. Sarutobi was actually surprised, in all his years of knowing the blond he had only ever seen him cry once. The one time he had gone out to the Kyuubi festival and gotten beaten by a group of drunk villagers.

I guess what he learned today was too much for him to take, Sarutobi thought as he wrapped Naruto in a hug.

"Sorry… Jiji," Naruto said with a small hic up.

"For what?" Sarutobi asked, amused. "The scroll his back, you helped me root out a traitor and just became a genin…"

"I got your robes wet," Naruto pointed at the small wet spot from his crying.

The Sandaime looked down to see that his robes were indeed wet from Naruto's tears. Sarutobi held in a snort of amusement, of all the things Naruto could be sorry for, it was for getting his robes wet.

"Jiji," Naruto said in an abnormally quiet voice. "Is it true? What Mizuki-s- Mizuki said?"

Sarutobi sighed, he had known this was coming at some point and had hoped to have some time to prepare for it. "It is…"

"So I am a demon…" Naruto said, looking down at the ground, tears forming in his eyes.

Sarutobi grabbed Naruto by the shoulders, making the blond look up at him. "Naruto, I want you to listen carefully. You are not a demon. When the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi into you, he had made it his dying wish for you to be seen as a hero."

"A hero?" Naruto questioned, getting a nod from Sarutobi. "Why?"

"Because Naruto, it is only thanks to you that the Kyuubi is safely locked away. You are the entire reason that Konoha is still standing today," Sarutobi said.

"Really?" Naruto asked, his voice a little hopeful.

"Yes," Sarutobi said, "you are the hero of Konoha."

"Then, how come every one hates me?" the blond asked.

Sarutobi sighed, "they don't hate you Naruto… They just don't understand, sealing, or fuiinjutsu as it's called, is one of the most obscure ninja arts there is, and the hardest to master. Very few people understand this, and so when something like a demon gets sealed into somebody, they are unsure whether the seal can really hold something like that, a being of such power in. you have to understand that when the Kyuubi attacked, many good ninja died that day, and because of that they are unwilling to accept you, fearing that you are really just the Kyuubi in human form."

Naruto frowned, that made sense, in some sick and twisted way. But now that he knew why he was hated, he had to wonder what he should do. Would people be able to accept him? Could he get people to see past the Kyuubi and look at him as Naruto?

At the moment it didn't seem all that likely. After all, the people of Konoha had twelve years to get over their loss and see Naruto for himself. Then again he had not really helped in that regard. He had been so desperate for attention that he had turned to pranks, since even bad attention was better then no attention.

But maybe if I show them that how good a ninja I am, and that I'm willing to protect the village, maybe I can change their minds. Naruto thought to himself.

He looked up at Sarutobi with determination, "I'll show them that I'm not the Kyuubi, that I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage of Konoha! I won't let this get to me, ever! Dattebayo!"

Sarutobi smiled at seeing the boys will of fire returning. "That's good Naruto-kun. I have no doubt you will eventually get there. However, it will require a lot more hard work then what you are used to. You won't be able to do your pranks anymore and will have to actually take the time to learn about being a shinobi. After all, a Hokage is not just the most powerful ninja in the village, he is the smartest and most cunning as well."

"So then your pretty smart, huh Ojisan." Naruto said.

Sarutobi chuckled a bit. "Naruto-kun do you know why I earned my nickname of professor?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Uh… Because your smart?"

"Well essentially yes." Sarutobi admitted. "However, it is much more then that. I earned the title of professor because of my ability to read people and react to any given situation both on and off the battle field. In the many years that I have lived, I have amassed much knowledge from reading books. Things that taught me about Shinobi basics, to the more advanced ninja abilities and theories, as well as knowledge on civilian practices like politics, which has become essential for every Hokage to know now."

He took a minute to curse The Nidaime's decision to create the council, the whole reason a Hokage needed to know politics. He had been told by his sensei, Senju Tobarima before the Second Shinobi War started that the he was one hundred percent positive he had been drunk when he came up with the idea. It looked good on paper, having a group of people dedicated to helping the Hokage deal with the everyday affairs of Konoha's civilians. However the reality was far different. Sarutobi had spent more time fighting with the council then anything, and many of the people in it, especially on the civilian side were extraordinarily greedy, always wanting more money and to line their pockets with more coin.

The old Hokage shook his head and banished the thought. "Anyway the point I'm trying to make is that to be a good shinobi requires you to be not just strong, but also smart."

"I guess that makes sense…" Naruto tilted his head for a moment before remembering something. "Oh yeah! Speaking of being strong you know that awesome jutsu I learned?"

"The Kage Bunshin? Yes I know it," Sarutobi said, wondering where the blond was going with this.

"Yeah well I was reading the description of it, and I was hoping you could help me figure out something I read in it. The scroll said something about memory feedback, and that it was really dangerous for some reason. But… I don't even know what that is." Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

Sarutobi looked at Naruto as he used his cunning mind, the mind that had given him his title of professor to come up with a plan that should help the blond get stronger without really helping him formed in his mind. "Memory feedback is the memories of the clones life returning to the user," Sarutobi answered. "Whenever a clone is dispelled, whether on purpose, by accident or running out of chakra, all of it's memories are given to the person who created them."

"Like when I created those ten in the forest and saw ten different sides of myself and my clones," Naruto mumbled to himself though Sarutobi still heard it.

"Yes, the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu is a powerful technique that way," Sarutobi said.

Naruto looked up and tilted his head in curiosity, "how so?"

Sarutobi tapped his chin, "well originally the clones were created because they were the perfect spying tools. You could have one of your clones infiltrate a base without any danger to the original and when they dispelled, they would give a complete layout of the base."

"So its used to memorize things?" asked Naruto, scratching the back of his head.

Sarutobi nodded, "yes. However, the Kage Bunshin can be used for more then just memorization Naruto-kun. In fact that jutsu is an excellent method to learn new things with. You can learn just about anything from your clones, from chakra control and jutsu, to the books you read, writing and even taijutsu since muscle memory is a mental faculty."

"That sounds almost like it can be used for training!" Naruto exclaimed, excited by the prospect of what he could get his clones to do.

The old Hokage nodded, "it can indeed be used for training. Though I suspect, that only you will be able to use this jutsu to it's full potential."

"Why is that?" asked Naruto, excited at the prospect that there was something only he could do.

"Because you're the only one who has enough chakra to summon enough clones to really make the training worth it. Most ninja, even Jonin, can only make five maybe ten clones if there lucky," Sarutobi answered.

"Ha! I made nearly a thousand in the clearing when I beat the crap out of Mizuki-teme!" Naruto said.

"That you did," Sarutobi chuckled at the boys enthusiasm, "but it will take more then spamming out clones to become a great ninja… you will have to train hard and actually be serious about your profession."

Naruto thumped his chest, "don't you worry old man! I'll train harder then everybody in Konoha! I'll become not only the most powerful Hokage ever, but the strongest shinobi in the elemental nations! That's my promise of a lifetime! Dattebaiyo!"

"I'm sure you will Naruto," Sarutobi chuckled. "And to help, I have some advice for you. But before I tell you what it is I want you to promise me you will listen to everything I have to say and follow the advice I give you to the letter."

Naruto grinned as he thumped his chest. "Don't worry Ojisan, I promise on my honor as the future Hokage of Konoha that I will listen to what you have to say and follow your advice! Dattebeyo!"

Sarutobi smiled before he began. "Very well then. Now since you are a shinobi you will have access to the ninja section of the library, there you will find scrolls on chakra theory and control, ninja basics and I think they even have a few books on Fuiinjutsu if your interested. Though I would also suggest reading books on things like politics and other civilian practices, if your going to be Hokage you will need to know these things. I want you to start off by finding books on basic chakra control and theory, as well as a taijutsu style that will suit you if the basic style does not. I know you do not want to hear this, but the basic principles are the most important aspects of being a shinobi, without them you can not grow because you do not have the essential steps necessary to advance in skill." Sarutobi looked at Naruto. "Promise me you will do this."

Naruto nodded, for once actually paying attention to what he was being told. "You got it Ojisan! I promise, first thing tomorrow morning I will go to the library and look up that information!" Naruto frowned for a moment. "Though, I don't know if they'll let me in."

Sarutobi frowned, he knew that a lot of places did allow Naruto entrance, like many of the shops and restaurants. Thankfully, the library, unlike the shops and restaurants, was government owned, meaning he was the only one who could bar someone entrance. "If they try to bar you entrance, just tell them barring entrance to a shinobi is illegal and that if they try they can take it up with me. Also, might I suggest some new clothes?"

"New clothes? What's wrong with these clothes?" asked Naruto, he liked these clothes. They were orange, and warm, and comfortable, and orange.

"Naruto, I know you like the color orange, however it is not a good color for a shinobi." Sarutobi said. "When you are out on a mission, those clothes will stick out like a sore thumb, and a ninja is supposed to blend in." Deciding to add some incentive Sarutobi added another thing. "Besides if you wear clothes that are more shinobi like it will add a powerful and mysterious image to you, making people recognize how powerful of a ninja you are."

That seemed to get Naruto hooked. "I'll do it Ojisan!" He frowned for a moment as he remembered when he had tried buying other clothes a few times, however he had always been kicked out of the stores before he could even take a look at the clothing selection.

"Good." Sarutobi smiled. "Now you have a whole week to get stronger before you get your Jonin-sensei assigned." The Sandaime said, "I suggest you use this time to get catch up with the rest of your class, with Kage Bushin's you should be able to get a decent level of knowledge and learn the basics. Though you will have to do physical exercise yourself, since clones can't do that for you."

Naruto blinked, "why not?"

"Because a clone is merely a chakra construct, it's not your real body therefore it can't help you grow physically," Sarutobi answered. "Now it's getting late, so why don't you get to bed. That way you can start getting stronger early tomorrow."

"Right!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically, "I'll see you later jiji!"

Sarutobi watched as Nauto left, with the knowledge of that jutsu he should be able to grow strong. Sarutobi looked at a picture of Minato, your son is on the path to being a great shinobi Minato.

So I really got nothing to say right now. R&R, let me know what you think, questions, comments, want to tell me I kick ass or that I need to get my ass kicked. Be sure to let me know.

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